Russia Says Air Strike Kills Four Senior IS Commanders In Syria

Syrian government forces fire a multiple-rocket launcher from a position on the southwestern outskirts of Deir el-Zour

The Russian Defense Ministry says it has killed four senior Islamic State (IS) commanders in an air strike targeting the extremist group in Syria’s eastern city of Deir el-Zour.

Russian news agencies on September 8 quoted a ministry statement as saying that 40 militants were killed in the air strike, including Abu Muhammad al-Shimali, who is responsible for foreign IS fighters.

Heavy fighting continues between Syrian government forces, backed by Russia, and IS fighters seeking to reinstate a siege of Deir al-Zour.

Russian President Vladimir Putin this week congratulated his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, after Syrian state media said government troops had broken the three-year siege of the city by IS forces.

In the months after Russia began a campaign of air strikes in Syria in September 2015, Western officials said it mainly targeted not IS militants but other opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP/Radio Free Europe

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Joel Cholo Brooks is a Liberian journalist who previously worked for several international news outlets including the BBC African Service. He is the CEO of the Global News Network which publishes two local weeklies, The Star and The GNN-Liberia Newspapers. He is a member of the Press Union Of Liberia (PUL) since 1986, and several other international organizations of journalists.